A few key trends have emerged during this year's edition of Cityscape Global, highlighting the evolving nature of the UAE's real estate market.

Emergence of Sharjah
Sharjah's real estate sector has taken great strides recently and has emerged as a key real estate investment destination with a series of large project launches and government initiatives. The Al Zahia project from Majid Al Futtaim and the Tilal City project have in the recent past attracted investments from GCC nationals and the wider Arab population. The historically strong cultural and commercial ties between Sharjah and key Middle Eastern markets such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt has ensured that such large master planned projects are well-received.

Sharjah has long been a preferred location for Dubai's lower paid white collar professionals, particularly those living with their families as it offers cheaper housing and education options. As per the Dubai Statistics Centre's 2016 report, more than one million people commute from other emirates such as Sharjah and Ajman to Dubai for work every day.

With the new project launches from private players and key initiatives from government agencies such as Shurooq (Sharjah Investment and Development Authority), Sharjah has underlined its ambition to become a major business, retail and housing hub on its own.

Arada, a new entity formed earlier this year as a partnership venture between Basma Group and KBW Investments, has recently announced the $6.5 billion Aljada project, one of the largest real estate projects announced in the Sharjah market. It is worth noting that the project will contain a 500,000sqm business park and as such is aimed at attracting large businesses to set up their operations in Sharjah.

Technology in real estate
Real estate as an industry is in many respects archaic in the way it does business. However, this is set to change soon. Property Tech has recently gained momentum globally and the trend has forced itself into the consciousness of the powers-to-be in the Dubai real estate industry during this year's Cityscape. The presentations on the role of technology and the imminent disruption it will bring to the real estate industry was received with an equal mix of excitement and apprehension at the Cityscape Conference.

As usual, the Dubai government has taken a lead in embracing these new technologies. Dubai aspires to be one of the smartest cities in the world which is why in December 2016, it launched 'The Dubai Blockchain Strategy' - a result of collaboration between Smart Dubai Office and the Dubai Future Foundation. As a part of this initiative, the government aims to eliminate all paper documentation by 2020 which means all physical contracts such as MoUs (memorandum of understanding) and title deeds are on their way out. They are likely to be replaced by block chain 'smart contracts' that will allow real estate assets to be tokenised. This will make fractional ownership in real estate a reality and result in stock market-like online exchanges for the real estate market. The message is loud and clear - embrace technology and be part of the disruption. Or get ready to be disrupted.

Aggressive payment plans
Entering the property market has become easier than ever for first-time buyers who were earlier priced out of the market. Several developers operating in the affordable end of the market are now offering generous payment plans requiring a minimal deposit (typically five to 10 per cent) at the time of booking with the rest of the payment spread over several months (or years in some cases) after the handover. Small developers who are offering such aggressive payment plans are no doubt taking significant risks. Some of these developers will be left to rely heavily on bank financing to complete the projects which might not be forthcoming for the lesser known players. So, even though the entry barriers have been lowered, the buyers must do thorough research on the developer's background before committing to a purchase.

The writer is head of strategic consulting and research at Cavendish Maxwell. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy.


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